In more than a decade of journalism, I have frequently covered crime, policing and public safety issues.
Whether its reporting directly from the scenes of gun murders, exploring the impacts of violence on communities, or investigating in depth missing women cases or police misconduct allegations, my work has been published in This Magazine, Windspeaker, Vancouver Observer — and recognized with awards and nominations from both the Canadian Journalism Foundation and the Canadian Association of Journalists.
Below are some samples from my crime portfolio.
A growing outcry over orientation-week chants encouraging rape has led student leaders at the University of B.C. to abandon their FROSH celebrations altogether, pledging more education on the issue of sexual assault.
Sheep farmers across the Lower Mainland are watching their flocks a little more closely after six sheep were reported stolen from a temporary pen in Richmond Tuesday.
The “Nephew bandit,” who police say conned money and valuables out of gullible seniors by pretending to be a distant relative, will remain in custody.
British Columbia’s marijuana production prominence could have a dramatic impact on the provincial economy if laws regarding the drug are changed, a local criminologist argues.
Street nurse Bonnie Fournier is remembered as the “mom of the Downtown Eastside.”
What does Liberal leadership candidate Joyce Murray have to say about co-operation, cannabis, climate change — and Campbell’s Cabinet?
Standing alone under the bleak overpass by the Alexander Street railway tracks, DJ Joe holds up a small white card as a train rumbles by beyond a fence. A white car slides slowly by, and Joe clutches her arms for warmth from the chilly air. Her foldable, two-sided card would fit easily into the long-time sex worker advocate’s pocket or wallet. Thousands will be handed out to survival sex workers on the street and at support centres around the Downtown Eastside.
“Dismissive.” “Out of touch.” “A travesty for the victims.” With these forceful words, one of the world’s leading human rights organizations fired back at Canada’s national police force and the federal government for their response to the group’s report alleging gang-rape, sexual assaults and other abuses of Native women by those charged with protecting them.
Carrying red and yellow roses symbolizing the 600 aboriginal women murdered and missing, respectively, thousands marched in cities across Canada on Valentine’s Day, banging on the door of the Prime Minister’s office in Ottawa and bringing outrage to Vancouver’s police station steps.
Explosive allegations of gang rape, widespread abuse and anti-Native racism have rocked Canada’s national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which vowed on February 13 to investigate the claims by one of the world’s leading rights groups.
David P Ball 